


Camping

by Neutralfan



Series: Connected Bran Stark/Meera Reed Stories [12]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Camping, F/M, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Love, Mild Hurt/Comfort, PTSD Dream, Panic Attack, Serious Talks, Serious fluff, Sex Talk, Talking, Talking About The Future, breera, not graphic just in passing conversation, nothing detailed, other Reeds mentioned, other Starks mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:54:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29514216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neutralfan/pseuds/Neutralfan
Summary: Bran and Meera talk about the future on a camping trip, Jojen gets a surprise, Pterodactyls might be involved, Large family dynamics are definitely involved; Theon is a little snitch.
Relationships: Jojen Reed/Arya Stark, Meera Reed/Bran Stark
Series: Connected Bran Stark/Meera Reed Stories [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1277456
Comments: 8
Kudos: 7





	Camping

Arya swiped down on her phone as she sat in a slightly comfortable chair in her doctor’s office looking at baby-related things. This was doctor number two that she’d been to see this month. Her normal doctor had taken a pass at treating her during pregnancy but had recommended the one she would be seeing today. Arya had to hand it to this doctor. The room was calm and relaxing if a bit dull. But a look around the room had shown that there were a few different moms to be that seemed nervous. They probably wouldn’t have benefited from anything too flashy. 

She had just clicked on an ergonomic bassinet that looked nice when Jojen sent her a picture of a car driving down the street. She knew from experience that it was the car he was sharing with his sister Meera. Sharing because, though she didn’t drive it often, she had paid for half of it. If everything was going to plan Meera was on her way to meet with Bran, Arya’s brother, to spend the weekend camping. A private getaway, and hopefully her brother wouldn’t bungle it up. 

Everyone had been subtly giving her younger brother hints for a month. From ‘accidentally’ sending him a flyer for a ‘romantic getaway’, to Arya’s outright suggestion that camping was a great way to leave the pressures of everyday life behind and relax. And she had this little feeling that Meera needed to relax. Mostly because of Arya’s increased presence in her home. 

Arya and Jojen had eloped two weeks ago and were splitting time between her flat and the shared Reed house. Arya was well aware that she wasn’t the easiest person to live with. Her personality and Meera’s didn’t blend as well as she would have hoped. It was with that in mind that she had suggested to Meera that she and Bran go camping. 

“Arya Reed?” 

Arya jolted a bit at the sound of her married name, she had decided that taking Jojens surname would be easier on the kid, she was still getting used to it though. She gathered up her bag and quickly moved towards the nurse. If the appointment had been on Monday he would have been able to make it to the appointment with her, but he’d been scheduled to work and couldn’t get anyone to cover for him. So she was on her own hiding her nerves behind setting up her brother and sister-in-law. 

Meera climbed out of the car and stretched, “Free at last!” 

Bran laughed as he joined her outside the car. They had driven several hours from Brighton for a weekend camping trip. He hadn’t been camping in years but he had fond memories of backyard campouts at his great Uncle's house. He’d never married and wasn’t very good with children at most functions but he excelled at campouts when his favorite niece came to visit him with her children. 

“Maybe we should find somewhere closer to home next time?” He suggested. 

“Where our families could find us in an hour? Not a chance!” 

She gave a joyous laugh as she spun around in delight. Not caring that she looked a bit like a gleeful toddler. Her hair flying around hitting her in the face. Bran joined her mirth as he made his way around to where they’d put their gear for the weekend and started pulling things out of the car. 

Once everything was out of the car and in their camping area they started setting up the tent. Or Bran tried to set up the tent as Meera set up the cooking equipment near the fire pit as she was more familiar with cooking outdoors than he was. 

“I thought you said you’d been camping before?” Meera said, chuckling as she looked over at Bran. 

“Yeah well, it’s been a few years and I wasn’t allowed to help set up the tent.” He scowled at the lopsided attempt he’d made to set it up while she’d been organizing their other necessities. 

“Want help?” 

“I’ve been waiting for the last five minutes for someone to ask me that,” he said ruefully. 

Meera just laughed and shook her head as she leaned down to help him. Though it took another hour to set the tent up as the instructions blew away and landed in a lake nearby before they could catch them. Thankfully dinner was easier for them to get cooked and eaten, allowing them time to just relax and watch the sunset and the stars to peek out from the depths of the universe. 

They were laid out on the grass next to each other preparing to stargaze until they got tired. 

“So,” he started, not sure how to approach the topic that he needed to tell her about, “I’ve been looking around for a new job.” 

“How’s that working out,” she asked, turning her head away from the heavens above them. 

“Well, I’ve gotten offers but no one is willing to match my current salary. I’m starting to look at jobs outside the country.” 

When she didn’t reply right away Bran took his eyes off of the sky to look at her. She seemed to be in deep thought. 

“I might find something here-” he cut himself off when she frowned. 

“Bran, if you can find a job that’s a good fit and will pay you well then go for it.” 

“Oh, you’re not against me moving away?” 

“That depends, are you going to cheat or break up with me if you move away?” 

How had they ended up here? He knew the answer but at the same time, he didn’t really want to think about the answer. He had no intentions of cheating, ever, he also didn’t want to break up with her. The very thought of being without her made his stomach do funny things, and not pleasant ones either. If anything he’d always thought that moving would include her. But they didn’t have such a commitment between them yet. 

“No to both of those.” 

“Then I’m not against it. Unless it’s somewhere really cold then I might question your sanity.” 

“So Scotland's out?”

She chuckled and shook her head in exasperation at his statement. They lapsed into silence for a bit just watching the stars and possible planets above them. It was nice, just the two of them enjoying each other’s company. No incoming texts, no bothersome family drama, no expectations. Just relaxing in each other’s company. 

They hadn’t talked too deeply about the future, there’d be spots of it here and there but for the most part, they’d shied away from any in-depth talks. He didn’t know if it was the air, the wide-open space around him, or the sparkling heavens above but he wanted to clear the air. Wanted to know where they were headed or rather where they could head, together. He took a deep breath as if preparing to jump from a cliff into a swelling ocean below and asked. 

“Would you ever consider marrying me?” 

He had done it. The question they’d been dancing around was now out in the open. Waiting for her reply was like falling through the air, at any second he could break the water’s surface only to find a shallow pool instead of the perceived ocean. Her answer was slow in coming, a sinking feeling forming in his stomach as the seconds ticked by. 

“I-I think that’s a very large question,” she said, “It’s not that I haven’t considered it, marriage that is. Who doesn’t think about getting married at least once in their life? I just- I don’t know if I’d be the best at it.” 

“What do you mean?” 

She took a deep breath, “remember Christmas? Moments like that sometimes just creep up on me. I don’t always run away like that, I function pretty well for the most part but sometimes,” she paused as if fighting with herself on how to phrase the next words. “Sometimes the past sneaks up on me and won’t let go, no matter what I do. Jojen puts up with a lot more than you get to see.” 

“Are you saying you don’t think I’ll be able to help?” 

“No. I just- I don’t know if I’ll be able to do some stuff. Stuff that normal wife’s do, ya know?” 

“Do you mean sex,” he asked, wincing at his bluntness. 

“Yeah. I like the idea of it, but I don’t know if I can do it.” 

“I would be willing to wait.” 

“But for how long? How long until you're sick of waiting and we end up fighting about it?” 

“Meera,” he rolled onto his side to get a good look at her in the semi-darkness, he could see that tears were starting to roll down her face, “I love you, and being married isn’t about sex to me, it’s about having a relationship of deep commitment.” 

Bran was struggling to figure out what to say next. He didn’t want to leave this conversation as it was. He could tell that she didn’t believe him, and to be honest he wasn’t even sure if he believed himself. Those words hid a huge concept, a large promise, and he wasn’t sure if he could live up to them. But not doing so would more likely than not break both of them. 

“Let’s talk about something else,” Meera said, offering him a metaphorical hand up out of the depths he’d plunged into. 

Bran accepted her offer, “Arya told me she was going to the doctor’s this evening when she got off work.” 

“Yeah, Jojen is all excited it’ll be her first scan and he’s hoping they find out if it's a boy or a girl.” 

“What do you think it’ll be?” Asked Bran. 

“A Pterodactyl.” 

“My sister isn’t a bloody dinosaur,” Bran said, trying to contain himself as he defended his sister’s honor. 

“Nor is my brother,” she replied, “but I think they’re gonna be good parents.” 

“Yeah, if not they’ve got us to make sure life isn’t dull.” 

“You know,” Meera rolled over onto her stomach until she was looking him in the eye, “she was the one who gave me the idea that we go camping.” 

Bran smiled in amusement, “did she?” 

“Yeah, and Jojen was on board too, I would have thought he’d be more cautious. Or want to know all the details of where we were going to be. I’m surprised that Dad didn’t call on our way out here.” 

“Ah, I was wondering if he was in on it.” 

“In on what?” 

“Operation Breera,” Bran said simply. 

Meera gave him a confused look, “what’s that?” 

“What my siblings are calling their plan to get us to-you know I don’t know their end goal. I just know that they’ve been hinting to me all month about taking you on a ‘romantic getaway’. Seems like they’ve got Joj in on it too.” 

Meera’s eyes widened, “what?” 

“I almost couldn’t believe it myself, until Jon e-mailed me a brochure for a couples retreat in Greece. He apologized, told me he meant to send it to Yegrett, but I had a feeling something was up. Then Theon invited me to a google doc and a chat, told me not to say anything in either of them, just watch. Meera they’ve got plans for how we can maximize spending time together. There’s even a spreadsheet for types of date activities we could go on that’s organized by cost, time of year, length, and I kid you not whether or not we’ve gotten married.” 

He bit his lip, Meera’s face was bordering on shock and it was quite cute. 

“They… they why are they doing this?” 

Bran sighed, “I’m not quite sure, I’ve only given the files a scan. I’m going to be scouring them later though, to figure out the ins and outs of it all. I don’t think our parents on in on this so I can always call in the big dogs if need be.” 

“Yes, do that.” 

Meera stood up looking a bit annoyed but not upset, “I’m going to bed, before thoughts of homicide enter my head.” 

Bran chuckled, “I’ll join you if you don’t mind?” 

“Put out the fire first,” Meera said over her shoulder as she walked back to the tent with her flashlight. 

He pulled himself up from the ground to begin his task, his mind still spinning from the conversation. He knew they’d have to talk about it again. Especially if the companies he was talking to in the America’s got serious about hiring him, or anywhere else for that matter. It could wait though for now, the topic was on the table and not in the shadows anymore. 

It was their last night sleeping under the stars when Bran woke to an odd sound. He was used to bumps and thuds coming from his neighbors' houses. Sometimes the occasional domestic. But soft whimperings were not something he had ever thought of as a good thing. He rolled over towards the sounds and by the low light of a glow stick they kept for any midnight bathroom runs, he saw that the sounds were coming from Meera. She was still asleep, but her body was trembling. He briefly wondered if he should wake her when her eyes flew open. 

She sat up and grabbed the nearest thing to her, the heavy flashlight, and brandished it like a club. Bran didn’t move, didn’t speak, he waited for her to calm down. He didn’t know if his voice would help her or not. After a few minutes, she seemed to realize that she was awake, the flashlight was set down, as a small sob escaped her. 

“Meera?” 

She jerked and whipped her head around, still crying. Bran decided that sitting up slowly wouldn’t be a bad idea. 

“It’s just me, Bran, do you need anything?” 

A few minutes passed, he became more concerned as her sobs didn’t stop but finally. 

“I… I need the dreams to stop. I-” 

Bran wanted to wrap her in his arms, to hold her until the pain went away. A small voice in the back of his head told him that doing that would be a bad idea. But another took its place. 

“Do you want to call your Mum? Jojen? Osha?”

She laughed, “Osha would rip me a new one if I called her. Not like I don’t deserve it though.” 

She seemed to be calming down a bit now, but her breath came in shaky waves. 

“I’m sorry, I should have told you what to do if this happened,” she said, “there’s a way to talk me down after… after a dream like that.” 

“I’m sure you’ll teach me before the next time,” he said, gently, “you’re ok. If you need we can pack up and drive home now.” 

It was almost four in the morning, by the time they got everything packed it would be daylight. It would be a hassle breaking camp in the dark but if she needed to go home then he’d get it done. He hated feeling helpless, unable to help her. Granted she probably felt the same if not worse about it than he did. 

“No, no it’s over now. I can wait until morning to go home.” 

“Ok, do you need a hug?” 

“Yeah.” 

He opened his arms to her and gently wrapped them around her when she came to him. He just held her close. They stayed like that until her breathing evened out again, a glance down told Bran that she had fallen back asleep. Easing himself back down, careful not to jostle her too much, he adjusted himself for being a human pillow. Doing his best to fall back into his own fitful sleep. 

They weren’t talking about it. Just going about eating breakfast and cleaning up the campsite before tackling the tent. Minor chit chat as they did. It was like nothing had happened and time flew to the point that Bran was surprised when it was time to leave, car keys in his hand. 

“Well it’s been a fun weekend,” Meera said as she climbed into the car. 

“It has,” Bran agreed, then yawned as he put his keys into the ignition. 

“I’m sorry about last night.” 

Bran turned the ignition and started to say something along the lines of ‘it’s fine’ when she spoke again. 

“The dreams have come back. Ever since that parole hearing, they’ve been back and more intense than they’ve been in years.” 

‘It’s fine’ was on the tip of his tongue again, it felt wrong though. He was at a loss of what to say to her. Brushing it off was wrong, but how did one show that they cared without seeming hollow? It was a tightrope in his mind and he was scared of falling. 

“I’m sorry, I wish there was something I could do.” 

“Wake me.” 

“What?” 

“Wake me up, Jojen says I start trembling when I have those dreams. Just wake me up and tell me that I’m safe. I don’t seem to react to voices, more tone. If the person waking me is calm I come out of it faster, if they’re panicked it only feeds the illusion my brain has cooked up.” 

Bran thought about what she was saying, “is holding you ok?” 

“Sometimes, I have come out of dreams fighting before though. I gave Dad a black eye in the early days.” She shot him a rueful look. 

He took a deep breath, “ok, anything else?” 

“I’ll think about it and talk with Joj and-” 

She cut herself off, her phone was buzzing and she looked at the screen out of habit. Bran paid little mind as it allowed him to chew on what she’d told him and navigate the road out of the campsite. Until she let out a gasp.

“Twins.” 

“What?” 

Meera started laughing, “Arya’s having twins. Jojen is in the hospital for a concussion, he passed out and hit his head when she told him. Twins Bran!” 

He pulled over and parked before putting his face in his hands. His mother was going to kill Arya, and yet laughter escaped him too. Arya was having twins, karma was dishing it out in spades it seemed. With any luck at least one of them would be just like their mum. Good traits and bad. It was too much for his sleep-deprived mind to process. 

“Is Jojen going to be ok?” 

“Before or after my Dad drives him home? Oh yeah, Dad knows now about everything and I can only guess the three voicemails I’ve got are from him.” 

Bran took that moment to pull out his phone. They’d both turned their phones off as they’d found the reception was spotty at best, but now that they were closer to the main road the signal was stronger even if his battery started depleting the moment he turned it on. He had twelve missed calls five from Arya, two from his Mum, and the remaining five were from varying family members. He also had around eighty text messages, which would explain his phone battery's rapid decline. 

“Oh wow, this… this makes me glad that we took this trip.” 

“You needed a reason?” 

“Oh no, I mean this is a new reason to add to my list,” he said, clearing up his miscommunication, “everything just exploded, but on the bright side no one is going to be snooping around for clues for that ‘Operation Breera’ thing. They’re all too busy with Arya’s drama.” 

Meera gave him a thoughtful look, “you’re used to this aren’t you?” 

“I’m the second youngest of seven kids, you adapt or you die.” 

“Well, I’m glad you made it.” 

Bran handed her his phone, “can you charge that for me while I drive us towards ground zero?” 

Meera snorted and accepted the phone.

Bran knew they’d escaped the initial blast but the fallout was still ongoing. He might as well take his time and make as many stops along the way home as possible. A grin appeared on his face at that thought. 

“Let me know if you want to get out and snap some pictures or want a coffee.” 

“Why?” 

“I want the drive to last long enough that we miss most of the fallout.” 

“Should I be taking notes on this as some sort of survival guide for dealing with a large family?” 

Bran chuckled as he got the car back on the road, “yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. 


End file.
